The curse of Dark One takes its toll
by thesewomenrulemyworld
Summary: Emma's been suffering the curse for a while now. This time Light lost the battle with Darkness. Regina is there for Emma, struggling, but fighting.


Regina closed the door behind them. They were left alone.

Standing far from each other, each one in different corner of the library in the Sorcerer's mansion. Silence fell between them, thick and suffocating.

"You killed him." Regina stated the clear and the following silence was torn by heart-breaking sob from behind the closed door.

Emma didn't say anything. Her mind was a mess, dancing dangerously on the sharp edge between the light and darkness. She didn't know what to say.

Regina was looking at her, deep emotions flowing in her eyes. But this time they were different. The love and affection Emma swore she could see in their special moments, it wasn't there. Something more pure, ancestral, rooted deep down. Possibly fear. Sadness. Disappointment. Helplessness. And hint of resignation.

Emma was confused by all of that. She has felt numb since the cursed day she let all the darkness swallow her soul. Always numbness, just occasionally ripped with fury and rage she had never known. And now, the two eyes in the other end of the room, they shone with welling up tears and she wished she felt numb. She hurt Regina and that was causing her more pain than anything else she had endured as the Dark One.

Another gut-wrenching sob from the other room filled the air and made it even harder to breathe.

"Why?" Regina whispered and took one step forward. Still she was far enough, but it was sign that there was a trust buried under all of the consuming disappointment.

"Because he had it too easy!" Emma burst out, but more than anger, there was hurt lacing her voice.

"Did you even think about Belle? Or the fact that he was harmless now?" Regina inquired with her eyes fixed on Emma's.

"Oh yes, he's harmless, after all the crap he has done and how he fucked over in some way every person I know, now he's free to live a happy little life with his loving wife while I can't even touch you! Or- Henry, or my parents or my baby brother!" Emma nearly shouted with frustration. She took a few desperate steps towards Regina, half-expecting her to flinch. But she didn't.

"Please, I never meant to hurt Belle, it was the curse, I did think that he got out of it too easily, but it was the darkness, it finds any opportunity and fuels the anger and then I lash out…" Emma rambled in anguished explanation, her eyes fixed on Regina's, pleading.

"Please don't give up on me," the last request was whispered, because Emma knew she was asking too much. She wasn't sure if she was allowed to beg for something like that, she knew Regina was bending too much already, all for her, and she was afraid she would break her. Her gaze dropped to the ground. She knew she couldn't bear looking into Regina's eyes anymore.

There was the silence again. Only between them, because the weeping and muffled comforting voices from behind the closed door were still there, still present. And somehow Emma knew that those sounds will haunt her sleep.

"I don't know what to do," Regina broke the silence with a sigh. "I don't know how to help, where to look for information…"

"I should go…" Emma said, thinking out loud.

"No-"

"They are afraid of me – if they weren't before, now they are. I killed one of us… When I'm behind the town line… there's no magic-"  
"But we aren't there either." Regina finished Emma's musing.

"I could visit?" Emma asked with a half shrug, but still avoided Regina's eyes.

"If you imprison the darkness like that, it will build up. Remember what happened with Lily, and it was only your light magic then. This is dark magic, it's stronger. Running away is just not a solution." Regina decided and Emma finally met her eyes.

"But what is?" she asked and her voice was small again, not at all like Dark One, more like a little broken girl.

"I don't know. We will find out, together. There are so many people who care about you, Emma-"

"And who I can hurt. And I can't even die to protect you all." Emma pushed the heels of her hands into her eyelids and turned away from Regina. It was too much, too overwhelming.

"No, don't say that!" Regina's voice was full of hurt and she felt a lump in her throat, tears welling in her eyes at just thinking about Emma's thankfully impossible suicide.

"Gold had learned to control it. So will you." Regina said with absolute certainty and Emma would bet her life if she could that she heard a tingle of that affection again.

She turned back towards Regina who was now standing only one step away. She was trembling and Emma realized that she had never seen the woman in front of her shaking like that. She saw the tension and something like fear again, but this time it was different. She wanted to put her hand on Regina's upper arm, to comfort her, like she had done a few times before she became this. A monster.

"I need you to believe," Regina whispered and Emma's mind was flooded with images of little Henry, convincing her that fairy tales were real and that she had to believe. She felt tears in her eyes, mirroring Regina just a moment ago. She closed her eyes to stop the tears from falling and suddenly she felt warm fingers wrapping around her wrist and sliding down until Regina interlaced them with hers. She was trying to avoid human contact, which wasn't so hard since nearly everybody feared her, but those who didn't she protected. The image of her lashing out and throwing Henry away was still painfully fresh written in her memory, like a never-drying ink.

She took a deep breath and felt the thick heavy air filling her lungs. She tried to revel in the touch of other human being, of the warmth which seemed to be increasing. Suddenly she felt a pair of soft lips gently brushing against hers, before they were pressed together more tenderly. She hesitated for a split of a second, but when she felt Regina's other hand on her neck, tugging her closer, nothing could stop her from kissing her back.

There was a strong yet delicate flash of magic running from their hearts to the tips of their toes and through their veins, before it radiated around them, lighting up the dim room.

It was right then, when Regina broke the kiss by a relieved smile gracing her lips.

"What-?" Emma asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Belle told me that True Love's kiss partly helped Rumplestiltskin with the curse of Dark One and she didn't stop pressing on me to try it on you." Regina admitted sheepishly with a loving smile.

"B-but why you?" Emma stuttered from Regina's warm breath evenly tickling her lips.

"Emma, the only person believing he was your True Love was him. Or did you-?" Regina tilted her head slightly and raised eyebrow in question.

"No, not really..." Emma shook her head and Regina smirked contently. "But how will it help? Did Belle say anything about that?"

"Maybe it will help you to be more in control. And to have permanent reminder that you're not alone in this." Regina ended in whisper, leaning closer until their noses were touching. "Everyone deserves their happy ending."

Emma closed the gap between them and wrapped both arms around Regina's waist as they melted into another kiss.

And finally, Emma stopped feeling numb.

 _She started feeling right._


End file.
